The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 12, 1996
Filed:
Dec. 21, 1993
Brian D Gragg, San Diego, CA (US);
James E Clark, Albany, OR (US);
David W Swanson, Escondido, CA (US);
George T Kaplinsky, San Diego, CA (US);
Tofigh Khodapanah, San Diego, CA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A collapsible ink reservoir structure to facilitate assembly of a replaceable or refillable printer ink cartridge is comprised of a relatively rigid inner frame and flexible membranes forming an ink reservoir having side walls which collapse to a substantially flat shape to minimize the amount of ink remaining in the reservoir structure after computer generated printing has depleted the ink from the cartridge. The reservoir structure is a separate unit from the ink discharge aperture device which is assembled and mounted in an outer housing and includes the inner frame and ink bags formed of films to form the cartridge assembly. Multiple reservoirs can be formed within the structure to permit the use of different colorants in each reservoir. The structure preferably contains an ink pressure regulator within each reservoir to maintain a negative pressure therein.